TAMPA, Fla.—Having done what they needed to do, a cry was heard in the Falcons locker room.

“Let’s go get No. 11,” Dunta Robinson said.

That would be an 11th win, this Thursday night against the Saints. Atlanta’s 10th win came Sunday afternoon against the Bucs. In a way, you had to be impressed with the 24-23 victory.

The Falcons became the first NFC team to get to double-digit wins. They have done that now for three straight seasons. Can you name the other teams in the club?

Not New England, not Green Bay, not Pittsburgh or Baltimore or New Orleans. Right now, the mighty Falcons fly alone.

Impressed?

Probably not. Atlanta could have won 240-23 on Sunday and the most common reaction would have been a smirk. The Falcons have become victims of their past, specifically their last two trips to the playoffs.

Fool me three times, and the cable company should permanently disable my NFL Sunday Ticket.

“We feel really good where we are at,” Roddy White said.

The rest of us aren’t so sure. As impressive as 10-1 is, it was only the second win against a winning team. The other came against Denver in Week 2 when Peyton Manning was still learning his receivers’ names.

Winning playoff teams can run the ball. The Falcons have had a hard time doing that, though it wasn't for lack of trying Sunday.

“We challenged our guys this week,” Mike Smith said. “We wanted to come down here and see if we could run the football.”

Jacquizz Rogers showed a few moves while gaining 49 yards. Not bad for a guy listed third on the running back depth chart. The problem was the first guy listed had 17 yards on 13 carries.

“I thought we ran the ball pretty well today,” Matt Ryan said.

He must not have been watching Michael Turner after he handed him the ball. Tampa Bay came in the NFL’s best defense against the run, so nobody expected 200 yards rushing. But 79 yards isn’t going to cut in it in the playoffs.

If all this sounds nitpicky, it is. There’s a lot to like about the Falcons, starting with the fact they no longer terminally stink.

He was 26-for-32. But—and there’s always a but with these birds—Ryan was going against the NFL’s most porous pass defense. It was even worse than normal with cornerback Eric Wright out with an Achilles' injury.

All that, and the resurgent Bucs were still trying a Hail Mary into the end zone at the end.

“To be honest, we could have played a little better,” Gonzalez said. “But when you win close games like that, it’s only a positive.”

No doubt, it sure beats losing them. And holding Doug Martin to 50 yards rushing was certainly positive. If the Patriots or Packers or Steelers were 10-1, people would be taking this run a little more seriously.

But those teams have won a lot of playoff games since 2005. That’s the last year Atlanta beat anybody in the postseason. Last year was a 24-2 disaster against the Giants. The year before was a 48-21 pie in the face against Green Bay.

That was when Atlanta was the top seed with a 13-3 record. The combined effect is the Falcons are now perceived as the A-Rods of January.

Now they have an interesting test against New Orleans in four days. The Saints beat Atlanta 31-27 a couple of weeks ago, ending all talk of the Falcons pulling the hallowed ’72 Dolphins perfection trick.

Not that anyone was taking such talk seriously. Not even the Falcons.

“We’re just jockeying for position,” Gonzalez said. “Right around this time is when you want to start gelling as a team and take it into the playoffs, because that’s the most important thing.”

You don't have to tell that to anyone who’s watched the standings the past few years.

Ten wins, 11 wins, whatever.

Nobody is going to be really impressed until Atlanta wins when it matters.